Writing Challenge: Puppets No More
by Leyrann
Summary: After Harry's name comes out of the Goblet, Ron has had it. He's not going to spy on Harry for Dumbledore any longer. Together with Ginny, he lays out the full truth of the situation. Good!Ron,Ginny, bash!Molly,Dumbledore, WRITING CHALLENGE. This is just a short scene to get others interested in writing this, I don't have time to write it myself.


**AN: An idea that popped up in my mind. I have no time to write it, but I hope someone else will pick it up (or more than one person). Consider it a writing challenge, the specifications are outlined at the end.**

**AN: As for writing other stuff, I expect to get back into The Advantages of Being Sane soon. I've been fixing some of the troubles I've been going through, writing's working again, I just need to write on the _right_ things now (instead of random oneshot challenges and the like).**

* * *

"Harry? Can we talk?"

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet, Ron."

"I know, that's what I want to talk about with you. Come, let's find an abandoned classroom."

Ron decisively walked to the portrait hole, Ginny at his side. Harry and Hermione shared a look, then followed the redheads.

"What do you want to talk about?" Harry inquired as they walked through the corridors. "And why is Ginny with us?"

She shot him a frown with none of her usual trepidation. "Not here."

They entered a classroom and Ron shot a silencing ward at the door.

"Will you tell us what this is about now?" Hermione asked, a little impatient.

"I… have a confession to make," Ron said.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Did you have anything to do with the Goblet?"

"What? No! Of course not! No, I… I want to be your friend, both of you. Your _real_ friend."

Harry looked confused. "What do you mean? Of course you're my friend, you're my best mate."

Ron shook his head. "No, Harry, I haven't been. Dumbledore wanted me to keep you isolated from everyone else, and I was supposed to act like a prat so no one else would want to be friends with you, but… I can't do it anymore. I don't want to deceive you anymore, Harry."

"You don't make any sense," Hermione said.

"It's true," Ginny chimed in. "Ron was supposed to keep Harry friendless, and then in a few years Ron would 'get' Hermione and I would 'get' Harry, with love potions if needed. Mom and Dumbledore came up with it together. But… we don't want to do this. They're _using_ us to get what they want, and it's costing you your happiness."

"I don't believe it," Harry said.

"Why do you think you've never heard about your inheritance, Harry?" Ginny continued. "All you've seen is your trust vault, the Potter vault is much bigger than that. You own a manor, Potter manor, somewhere. You're a _Lord_, or will be once you're 17, but no one told you that, did they? Lord Potter of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. But Dumbledore doesn't want you to know that, because he wants you to be weak. Why do you think you grew up with the _Dursleys_, Harry? How do you think Sirius ended up in prison without a trial while Dumbledore is Chief Warlock? He wants you to _die_, Harry, while fighting Voldemort, so that he can then pick up the scraps and come out as the hero once again. And our mother is helping him, and in exchange we're supposed to marry you. Ron marries Hermione for her brilliance, and I marry you so that when you die, your entire inheritance goes to me, to our family."

"R-really?" Harry said.

"Really," Ron confirmed. "Dumbledore pulled me aside yesterday and told me that he suspected your name would come out of the Goblet, and I was supposed to act like I believed you put it in, which is absolutely ridiculous, and remain angry at you until after the first task, and then you were supposed to welcome me back immediately with a half-baked apology. But I refuse to continue doing this anymore. You need friends, Harry, people you can _trust_."

"He knew?" Harry asked weakly.

"He suspected it," Ron said. "I don't know why. I… don't think he'd have put your name in himself, but it could be."

"Ron?" Ginny prodded.

"What?"

"Broom?"

"Oh! Uh, Hermione, I wanted to apologize, for last year. Dumbledore had told me to set Harry up against you when he got his Firebolt. It should've been obvious to both of us it was dangerous, and if I hadn't made Harry mad at you I'm certain he'd have realized that as well."

Hermione nodded. "I should have talked about it with Harry, though."

"It's fine," Harry said, shooting her a smile. "So… what does this mean?"

"We can't let them know," Ginny said. "If mom and Dumbledore know we're not doing what they want anymore we're in trouble. So you'll have to act like you and Ron won't speak with each other, and I'm going to continue acting like some stupid fangirl. I'm supposed to become less of one over time anyway, so we can work on that and by fifth year I can probably act like a normal conversation partner with you. In the meanwhile we'll do our best to undermine mom and Dumbledore's plans. I don't think they will start using love potions before sixth year, but… it might be a good idea if we start brewing neutralizer potions just in case."

"I can barely believe this," Harry said.

"It's too insane for words," Ginny agreed. "We're Merlin-be-damned _teenagers_, and they're doing everything in their power to ruin our lives. And _mom_," she spat the word like it described the most vile thing she'd ever encountered, "she just thinks that we'll _want_ to… to… act like _this_! That I'm happy being some stupid ditz who gets to fake a relationship with a love potion and then get an inheritance, that Ron is _happy_ being a prat without a single friend except for the boy who never had _anyone_ else in his life, while he's supposed to constantly antagonize Hermione. We're not going to do this anymore, Harry, Hermione. We're going to make sure you get through this and get to live a happy life once everything is over. And with _whoever_ you fall in love with, not chained to me and Ron by my mother's brewing skills."

"What else should we do?" Harry asked, a little scared.

* * *

**AN: So the challenge would be this:**

-Start in fourth year, when Harry's name is drawn from the Goblet. You can use above scene to start (and continue where I ended it), or write one yourself.  
-Dumbledore and Molly bashing (unless you can make them rounded characters that take these actions, in which case, _yes please!_).  
-Good Ron and Ginny.  
-No ridiculously powerful characters, but a little more proactivity than canon!Harry wouldn't hurt. After all, 'Ron isn't dragging Harry down anymore'.  
-Whatever pairings you want, though Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny would have a nice irony to it.  
-Lordships are a thing (tbf though, they almost always are when Dumbledore is manipulating Harry).  
-As little bashing of other characters (Remus, McGonagall, Sirius, etc) as possible.  
-And otherwise whatever you want.  
-Oh, and if you decide to give it a try, please send me a PM with the story so I can follow it.

**AN: Update 23/7/2019: Another, similar idea would be with Dumbledore attempting these manipulations, and Molly subtly opposing him while appearing to go along. Wouldn't work with this starting point, but I just figured I'd add it here.**

**Also, if someone sends me a PM that they have started writing the challenge, I will add a new chapter to this story to inform everyone who followed this.**


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